


i can see daylight

by kiriya



Category: Kamen Rider Wizard
Genre: Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, Kinda, M/M, Major Wizard Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiriya/pseuds/kiriya
Summary: six months after the sabbath, nitou pays haruto a visit
Relationships: Nitou Kousuke/Souma Haruto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17
Collections: Best Matched Zine 2020





	i can see daylight

**Author's Note:**

> please read the tags on this, this has major spoilers for the end of wizard and if you haven't finished the show, do not read it

It’s late when Nitoh walks through the door of his hostel.

He makes Haruto move out of the way for him. Just like he barged in Haruto’s life: obnoxious, loud, with little regard for any presence other than his own. He drops his heavy backpack down with a clunk, sits back against the bed’s the gaudy comforter, and spreads his legs to get comfortable. Haruto sucks on his bottom lip, and very, pointedly, doesn’t look. He shouldn’t look at Nitoh like that, especially when he’s --

“How do you have the money to stay here?” Nitoh asks, idly absorbing the details of the room. Haruto doesn’t pay much attention to them anymore. He’s been on the road for a while now, and they’ve all blended together. “You have some power you don’t want to tell your rival about, huh? An alchemy ring or something.” 

Haruto ignores him, “Have you been following me, Mayo?”

“Well, I’ve been trying...” 

“For how long?” 

“Shit. I dunno. This is like … the fifth city I’ve been too?”

“The fifth!?” 

“You’re an elusive guy! And you can teleport! Why are your powers so much cooler than mine, huh?”

“It’s nice to hear you admit it, though,” Haruto says, and Nitoh responds with a petulant huff. “What are you doing here, Mayo? Shouldn’t you be in Fukui?” 

“Meh, college can wait. Besides, I gotta mission of my own: getting Khimera back,” He looks right at Haruto for a moment, then looks away again, “and all that...” 

Haruto clicks his tongue. “What would your grandma think?” 

“She knows!” Nitoh averts his eyes again, guilty, and Haruto makes an amused sound through his nose. Nitoh is more scared of his grandma than death itself. “ _ This time. _ ”

“Right.” If he got Shunpei to talk to her on his behalf, Haruto wouldn’t be surprised. “You never answered my question,” he points out. 

“I’m making sure you’re not dead! It’s been six months, you know.”

He doesn’t. It feels like weeks, still. 

Haruto rubs the back of his neck. “I didn’t.” 

“I mean, you know you have a phone, right?” Haruto opens his mouth to respond, but Nitoh puts up his hand. “Say no more! You want to see a picture of Yamato-san’s baby, huh?”

Then, there’s a phone in Haruto’s face. A baby girl with chubby pink cheeks stares back at him. He takes it back quickly, and smiles at it with a goofy grin. 

“Everyone misses you, y’know… Shunpei’s getting pretty good at making rings. I’ve been doing some research to get Khimeria back and stuff, and I think I’m close to figuring out how he can make me rings, too. Rinko got promoted to Section Zero. Ooh, Mayu is gonna apply into this fancy all-girls college. Her chances look good…”

It feels like someone has cut the rope holding up a heavy weight in his chest. Koyomi’s ring feels more heavy and solid where it rests in his jacket pocket. 

Haruto hasn’t said anything, and Nitoh gives him a curious look. “What?” 

When he thinks of the antique shop, the first thing he imagines is Koyomi’s crystal ball station: empty. Then his friends, Shunpei and Rinko, both in mourning. It felt like too much to deal with at the time, but somehow, the idea of life moving on without her hurts just as much...

“Okay,” Nitoh starts, before he can even reply. “If I’m being honest ... I’m not just making sure you’re not dead. I’m here to bring you back.”

“I can’t go back yet,” Haruto replies, resolute. ”Not until I find a place to—”

“Rest Koyomi-chan’s soul. Got it,” Nitoh replies with a tight nod. “You gotta come back, though. You can’t leave all the phantoms to me once I get Khimeria back! What kinda rival would you be then?” 

Haruto takes a deep breath, trying to uncoil what’s wound so tight inside him. He sits down next to Nitou on the bed.

“Being a mage is about more than defeating Phantoms,” he says.

“I know. You protected people’s hope! And Koyomi-chan--” 

“-- was my responsibility,” Haruto finishes for him, feeling raw and cut open. “I always considered that my most important job. That’s why when she was in danger, I couldn’t think about anything else. Her father gave me Koyomi to look after, but I failed … The least I could do for her now is find a proper resting place.” 

“Hey. You didn’t ask for that responsibility. I didn’t know Koyomi as well as you did, but she made a choice, didn’t she? It’s not ‘cause you couldn’t give her hope or anything. It’s just ... not on you to save everyone. Especially not by yourself.”

When Koyomi first started to become unstable, Wajims told Haruto he and Koyomi had a similar talent for pushing other people way. But it’s hard to let people in when he knows he won’t be the same person to them once he does. He can't let their final hope crack with despair. 

Nitoh speaks without him saying anything,“You wanna know why I do all this magic stuff?”   
  
“... Because it’s cool?”

“Hell yeah it’s cool, but --”   
  
“Khimiera would have literally eaten you if you didn’t.”

“Right! That’s my point. At first, I just rolled with what was happening for the hell of it. Was just in for myself. A pinch is a chance. But then I met you, and I decided I wanted to help you.” 

“Why?”

“Because you were such a hero, you know? Like Zorro or something... I thought: _ I’m not that selfless _ . And it didn’t feel right, thinking you had to do all by yourself. That’s why I didn’t let you save me, that time. Not because,” Nitoh’s breath hitches, “I didn’t want a man to put a ring on me, or whatever,” Nitoh furiously scratches the back of his neck. “Ah, I hate this. I’m more a man of action than a man of words, you know?” 

“I couldn’t tell.”

“C’mon, man, I’m having a moment here...”

Haruto fights a smirk, to little success.

“... Everyone misses Koyomi. You don’t have to grieve by yourself. Maybe we should just keep the ring. The shop was her home, right? Yours, too. I think she rather be there, than some random place by herself. And they miss you, too, y’know? They look up to you, just like me. All the danger and stuff? It never mattered to us, ‘cause we wanted to help you so bad. And they want you to come back.” Nitoh looks at him, then looks away again. “ _ I  _ want you to come back.”

Another weighty pause. 

It was hard to face his friends -- to see his own grief for Koyomi reflected back at him -- but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t thought about them. He misses using real magic to help Shunpei with his tricks, and arguing about takeout with Rinko when they were up with an investigation all night. And he missed getting Nitoh worked up. So cute when he’s embarrassed. 

Haruto looks down at the bed. His and Nitou’s fingers are inches apart -- it’d be so easy to slip them together. Their thighs touch on the edge of the bed, and Haruto feels warm all the way through. 

“Hey, you blushing?” Nitoh asks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Ah, well, there’s one more thing… Something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. I didn’t want to admit it. Thought it would change how everyone saw me, or made me less of a man…”

“Kousuke…” He murmurs into the small between them. 

The kiss Nitoh gives him is eager, like Nitoh always is, and urgent in comparison to the tender moment they just shared. But it’s nice. Nitoh’s hands are warm on either side of his face, holding them closer together, and Haurto’s mind reels with a million things at once -- the sudden longing to go home, how much he misses silly bickering with his friends, the fact that Nitoh likes him back, that all his despair might have become something beautiful. Haruto feels something glow in his chest, like a spark of glimmering hope. 

Nitoh clears his throat, when they pull apart. He looks obviously nervous, and it’s cute. “Uh, so ...Was that a solid enough case for you to come home, or…”

“I might need more convincing,” Haruto says. He waits for Nitoh’s dismayed reaction, before smiling and adding, “just kidding.”

  
“Man, don’t mess with me like that.”

“Only when you stop making it so easy,” Haruto replies. “I’ll come back. Soon.”

“Good. Because if I don’t deliver, Shunpei and Rinko are gonna kick my ass, then come over here and kick yours.” 

“Maybe you. They’d never do that to me.” 

“C’mon, they love me.” 

“I guess you’re charming enough,” Haruto says, light. He smiles, before saying, “And sexy.” 

“ _ Sexy!? _ ” 

Then, Haruto kisses him. Just to shut him up, like he’s fantasized about doing several times. Nitou makes a noise of protest against his mouth, but it’s muffled by the kiss. Nitou doesn’t seem to know what to do with his hands for a moment, but settles them on Haruto’s hips, as to hold him close. 

It feels good to just let himself sink against him. 

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this for the Best Matched Zine. physical copes were delayed b/c of co-vid 19, but anyone who ordered should receive a pdf in their email! i hope you get the chance to read everyone's stuff, b/c it was amazing. it was awesome to play a small part in hosting this, and i hope i get the chance to do it again! i love wizard and hope i get around to writing more while on lockdown. stan shunpei.


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